The practice of selling carcasses (or perhaps forequarters and hindquarters) which have been cleaned but otherwise unimproved has been replaced in many meat packing plants in favour of a practice in which value is added to the products processed and typically comprises dismembering the carcasses into finished cuts which are packaged so that, when they leave the meat packing plant, they are ready for sale to the end user.
The applicant has devised machines which are located in the production line and which produce packages (usually bags) in which the finished cuts of meat are packaged. Each bag is produced as it is needed and its length can be selected by the operator to match the length of the cut which is to be packaged in that bag. Significant savings in the costs of packaging are being achieved in the commercial use of the machines. Examples of such machines are described in the applicant's international patent applications #PCT/EP92/01624 and PCT/NZ94/00024.
Despite these advances there is a need for greater efficiency in many meat packing plants. It is known for example that productivity is often adversely affected by poor trimming practices; i.e. saleable meat is often removed when the cuts are trimmed after they have been removed from the carcasses at the boning stations. One means which would be of assistance in identifying such wastage would be to compare the sum the weights of the cuts taken from each carcass with the weight of the carcass. Such information would also enable operators to have better knowledge of the quality of the animals which they have purchased for processing and to be more selective about the suppliers of their animals. The information would also enable farmers to improve breeding and feeding practices. Furthermore, a more detailed description of the contents of each package of meat could be provided.
However, the applicant has found that keeping track of the identity of the cuts after they leave the trimming tables is no easy matter in the operating environment of a meat packing plant.